To Save the City I Love
by Alcapacien
Summary: Story on DMC3 that starts off with the appearance of Temen-Ni-Gru. Follows two friends through their struggle to save the people and city they love.
1. Default Chapter

I was reading my book on the ancient demon world and its legends when the ground began to shake. I heard the startled squeal of Rose in the kitchen as I ran to see what was going on. I looked out the window and almost fainted with shock. The tower "Temen-ni-gru" was towering above the sky scrappers in the city.

"Oh crap," I whispered as I stared out at the old, faded stone tower. This would not be good.

I ran back to the old, torn book I had bought at a shady store and quickly scrambled for the page on this tower. I felt Rose come in and stand behind me as I looked, and I muttered to her, "This is like the Revelation."

"Oh God help us," she said, with a faint voice. She knew all about the Revelation, her church did a whole series of sermons on it when she was younger.

I found the page and quickly scanned it, my eyes picking out the important parts.

"_The tower of Temen-ni-gru serves as a portal for the demons and devils of Hell to escape into the Human world. For thousands of years, these demons of all powers escaped into our world and terrorized millions of human beings. An elite force was formed to help stop the demons, but they were soon overwhelmed… until a demon named Sparda stood up and defeated thousands of devils and demons. (The thought reason for this was a human named Eva that he loved.) With one final act, he sealed the tower, Temen-ni-gru, and stopped for good the comings of demons into the Human World. Since he was a demon himself though, he sealed his powers in the Lands of Hell too."_

I quickly shut the book and ran to my room, yelling back at Rose, "I'm going out, I need to fix something. Don't worry if I don't come back tonight."

I heard her running around but I only concentrated on what I was doing. I changed into some black, form-fitting but flexible pants and a tighter purple t-shirt that matched the streaks in my long black hair. The said hair was then thrown up in a high bun so not to fall into my eyes or get in my way. Grapping my black leather trench coat I ran out to the front room.

"Erm, okay?" I said as I looked at the Rose that was standing in front of me.

She had her black leather shorts that reminded me of her spandex from the Volleyball days on. She wore a light blue tight top and had her red hair up in a ponytail. Slung over one shoulder was a black jacket and her twin guns were in holders across her back and on her legs. "What, think I'm gonna let you do all the work, Zen?" She asked, staring at me with a raised eyebrow.

Sighing I strapped my twin blades, to my forearms and thought about this. While Rose knew how to take care of herself, she also could be pretty vulnerable sometimes. "If you come, you have to turn back the moment I think it's too hard on you, okay?"

With a slight glare she agreed, knowing this was the only way that she'd get to come along.

-A Little While Later-

This is it, the entrance to Hell. I stared up at the tall tower and thought on what was the best way to get in. I looked to my side to see what Rose was doing and was startled to see that she was gone. When I franticly looked around, I saw she was walking ahead towards the door that led into the tower. She looked back at me as if to say, 'what are you waiting for?'

Inwardly I sighed, battling the fear I had. I didn't want my life to end in this Tower of Doom (as Rose accurately named it), but as I looked around me at the city I loved, I gave into courage. I wanted this beautiful place to be restored and live peacefully rather then me live and sacrifice others.

I advanced into the room, loosening up my twin blades as I saw Rose getting out her two guns and holding them ready. We walked cautiously around looking every which way for a sign of danger. Glass crunched under our feet as we walked up to the giant doors. Signs of a struggle could be seen, as well as some blood, and giant, broken chains lay connected to the wall.

Whispering, Rose asked with a nervous voice, "So…what do you think was here?"

"Cerberus…" I whispered back not knowing why we were whispering. "A giant, three headed dog that guards the Gate to Hell."

"Oh, lovely," she said, swallowing really hard.

They advanced on, into a room called the Camber of Echoes. With dismay, I looked around me seeing the height of this room. The room was a spiral, going ever upwards and many of the stairway parts were broken. A loud blast sounded, and soon, Rose and I were surrounded by demons.

'Now, this was my game', I thought taking out my two blades Adara and Mara, before smiling. "Let's get this party started!"

Ten minutes later, I gave a satisfied grin and wiped off some sweat decorating my brow. The scattered remains of demons lay around me as did some broken bits of stone. I wiped off the demon blood on my blades on my pants and sheathed them back onto my arms. Rose dramatically blew over the top of her guns acting like she was blowing away smoke.

"Impressive," a deep voice spoke behind us.

Whirling around, Rose had her guns up and ready to fire. She cocked them and held them steady on the stranger as she spoke. "Who're you?"

With a slight smirk, the white, spiky haired stranger began to circle her. "I believe the question is who are you," the stranger spoke before quickly trying to strike her.

With a clang, I stopped his blade right as he almost hit her, "Dude, what's your problem?" I exclaimed, still on the high of fighting.

"Why are you here?" he demanded.

"Why do you want to know?" I countered.

"Just stop fighting already. Sheesh, you guys take this too seriously," I heard Rose's voice pipe up.

I turned to her, mad, "Rose, he just tried to kill you and you're getting mad about us fighting?"

"Leave the pretty lady alone, why don't you?" he said with a smirk, "she seems to be the smart one here."

He strode up to her, bending in close. "Why are you two here? You'll get killed, you know."

I poked him on the shoulder, turning him around, "Why don't you just let us be, buster?"

"As you wish," he said, just disappearing.

I looked over at Rose and saw her blushing. "Let's go."

Authors' Note: So yes, this is just a teaser like thing right now. My lovely friend Vampy Sparda (go check her out!) asked me to write her a DMC story after I played DMC3, so I got to play it, and here is the story. Hope you enjoyed it.

Love,  
Alca

P.S. Teaser for another part:

"_Wow, we're high up!" Rose said looking over the edge of Temen-Ni-Gru. _

_Rayne walked up behind Rose to spook her, "What happens when you fall?"_

_Rose squealed and fell over, causing Rayne to jump forward to try and save her. As Rose's figures slipped through hers and Rose continued the long fall, fear shinning through her eyes, Rayne screamed. "No!"_


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer: **The Rose and Rayne in this story have nothing to do with Bustahead's! This was purely coincidental…and the fact that I also don't own DMC (or else Hannah would kill me) should be mentioned.

**Chapter Two**

After we moved in more, getting a better look at the room, I sighed in frustration. This was hopeless! Parts of the staircase were missing. "Look, I don't want to try those staircases right now, so what are we going to do?"

"Well," Rose's voice came from the left, "we could try this door here."

"After you, Ms. All-Knowing-One," I said, bowing her through the door.

She walked through the door, her nose high in the air and strutting like she ruled the world. I followed her into the room and almost started crying. We were on one side of a room with a giant door, and on the other side was another door that was the one we obviously needed to go through. But of course…there was a gaping pit right in front of us.

"This is useless!" Rose yelled in frustration.

"Unless…it's an optical illusion. Here, give me a gun," I said, not moving my gaze from the hole, but holding a hand out to her.

After a few seconds she complied, grumbling. "If I lose a gun because of you…"

Once I felt it in my hand, I threw it out into the air while Rose yelled at me. But as it began to fall, and she tensed up, it hit the air and bounced. Yes, it bounced; it seemed that the air was hard.

Smirking I walked out to pick it up, "What'd I tell ya, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, at least I didn't lose a gun," Rose commented as she joined me on the opposite side. "If this is the wrong door, I'm going to kill you…just to let you know."

"That was my gift to you. You… amuse me," the voice of the 'annoying twit' from earlier echoed over our heads suddenly.

I watched as Rose looked everywhere for the speaker. "You know he isn't here."

She sighed, "I was going to thank him…"

I looked away scowling, thinking to myself; _he doesn't deserve to be thanked, _but instead I told her we should keep going if we wanted to help anyone.

We cautiously turned the corner, ready for an ambush, but we were relieved to see an elevator waiting for us to get on with four statues upon it; one on each corner of the elevator.

"Shall we?" Rose said, holding out her arm.

"We shall," I replied as we linked arms and got on the elevator.

After a couple minutes, Rose spoke up. "Um…why aren't we moving?"

"Hmm…I dunno, maybe these statues are weighing us down?"

I moved to take them down, but was stopped by a sudden burst of bullets. "Shoot them or use your blades; it'll go faster," Rose spoke up.

With a nod, I complied, quickly taking down two while Rose shot apart the other two. When we still didn't move, we looked around for a switch. I walked across a wall and came upon a wheel with eight spokes sticking out of it. Looking around me, making sure the coast was clear, I began to attack it with my blades to release some stress. When the ends of the spokes began to burn, I was surprised, but I kept hitting it till all of them were lit and I could hear a loud grinding noise.

"Hey…it's moving!" Rose shouted excitedly, running up onto it.

I ran towards it, jumped up, and flipped onto it just before it got too high. We stood there as it went up, waiting for something to jump out at. It wasn't too long before our suspicions were answered. Demons began to rain down on us (Rose screamed bloody murder) with giant scythes.

"Pride has come to play," I taunted them with a smirk. "Here Pridey, pridey."

After we had defeated them, (ending with me yawning with boredom from them), we reached the top and jumped off. As we explored our surroundings, Rose happily yelled out, "Balcony! Oh…pretty moon…" She skipped outside and placed her hands on a railing that soon crumbled away. "Oppsies…" she said embarrassed, rubbing the back of her head.

I rolled my eyes at her, "Don't touch anything again."

"But if I am to walk…or stand, then I just _have_ to touch something."

Slapping my forehead, I groaned, "Oh god, I'm rubbing off on you."

We entered another long corridor that held signs of a massive fight. Giant lengths of chains lay around on each side of the door and giant piles of rubble lay everywhere. As we walked across the ground, our feet scuffed against giant scratches in the ground.

"Once again, I think I'm glad someone already defeated this demon," Rose said, her hands near the guns strapped to her legs.

"Demons," I whispered.

"What?" Her head shot in my direction.

"This is the Firestorm Chamber where two headless demon brothers were once housed. Well, maybe not completely headless…. Their heads were on the tops of their swords." I said thinking back to their legend. I read it out loud from my mind.

_"Once two brothers named Agni and Rudra tortured human villages using their brute strength to demolish and obliterate everything. A demon hunter tried to defeat them, and succeeded in decapitating them. But his hope in stopping them was crushed as they soon welded their heads to their sacred swords of Fire and Wind. (The two sacred swords of Water and Earth have been long lost for centuries now.) Now, combined with the sacred swords they had stolen, they were more powerful then ever. With vengeance they attacked and killed the Demon Hunter who had removed their heads. Their reign of terror continued until the great demon Sparda chained them up in the Firestorm Chamber of Temen-ni-gru."_

Rose gave a nervous laugh, "Oh…shall we move on?"

We did, and soon we arrived in a chamber with a pedestal in the center. Mounted on top was a mechanical arm with something that was akin to a laser gun. I inspected it closer, and saw that there were three engraved circles on the pedestal, all linked by a line to form a triangle.

"Think we need to find something, Rayne?"

"No duh," I said sarcastically back to her.

"Gosh, you don't have to be so rude and mean to me," she said dramatically.

"Oh, but I do."

We continued on enjoying our fun banter as we walked towards the doorway that wasn't blocked by massive boulders. As one, we reached out and opened the door with a bang. A sudden light shone behind us, making our figures brilliantly outlined.

We stood there looking at the three paths before us. The Trials of Wisdom, Skill, and the Warrior stood in the way of saving our beloved city. But what one should we conquer first?

"Since I'm probably not the one with the skills needed, why don't I do Wisdom and you do Skill?" Rose suggested to me, still looking ahead.

"Sounds great to me," I answered, looking to the middle path.

"See ya soon then!" She said before running into the path on the left.

"Be safe," I muttered before walking into the middle path and unsheathing my sword.

Trial of Wisdom: Rose's Point of View

As I walked up to the door, I read the riddle inscribed on the pedestal in front of me:

'_Your wisdom will be put to the test in the chamber ahead. Use your lifetime experience: from the crawling infant; to the man standing tall; and finally to the old man leaning on his cane.'_

"Hmm," I said aloud walking into the first room. I inspected every part, knowing that this was important. I looked at the top of each doorway and noted that there was a different amount of glowing stones in each: 4, 3, 2, and 1.

"So," I continued to speak to myself in order to think well. "The crawling infant comes first…so when you crawl, you're on all four legs, right? Yes. So that means I should take the door with four glowing crystals."

As I stepped through the door, I took out my guns just in case I was ambushed. But when I walked in and stood waiting for the anticipated ambush, nothing happened and I relaxed and grinned. "Ha, take that you trial of Wisdom you!"

Then I looked around and groaned; _another room? Sheesh, you really hate me right now don't you?_ I thought to myself as I looked around. "Alright…the man standing tall was next. So, I can make the man a woman…cause I am no man." I began to walk around, as I thought. "If I was standing tall, which I am doing now…I'd be standing on two legs."

And without a second thought I walked straight into the two glowing gems door. "Ha! Conquered you again, can't touch this!" I exclaimed doing a small dance to relieve some stress…and, well, have fun too.

"Okay, old woman right? Well, once I'm an old woman, I'll still be on two feet, so I take it it's two again! Onward ho!"

Once I stepped through the threshold, I immediately realized my mistake. It had mentioned a cane! "Crap," I exclaimed whipping out two of my guns as demons materialized around me. I began to shoot them down, managing to somehow get away from them all with only a scrape or two. Once I had finished, I returned the guns to their holsters and walked through the door of three in order to fix my wrongdoing.

With a groan, I recognized the marking on the floor that I had made in the first room. "So now I have to start over? Sheesh guys, give a girl a break…"

I continued on my merry journey, making sure that I took the right door this time Finally, I came to the final room. "Hah, you're not going to trick me this time…_ 'The old man leaning on his cane'_ obviously, that's three, so through the three glow door I go!"

I triumphantly stepped through into a new room. It was like the others, except this time there was a pedestal right in the middle of the floor. I circled this pedestal, trying to determine if it was a trap, before I took a closer look at the glowing sphere like thing set on it. I took it off with one hand, and loosened a gun with another, just to make sure. As nothing appeared, I looked around me.

"Ok…it said nothing after the old man with his cane or whatever, and I've already gone through three, two, and one, so I guess that means I go with le one glowing gem!" I once again spoke to myself and confidently walked through that doorway.

Trial of Skill Rayne's Point of View:

I advanced into the Trial; my blades loosened and out in my hands in the ready position. I turned around a corner, hearing grating noises that didn't sound too great. But what I saw almost made me drop my blades in shock. There in the vast expanse of me was a maze of giant spears shooting up, out, and down in a timed pattern. Combinations of down and out stood in between the blades shooting up from the ground. To test how sharp they were, I tore off a piece of my jacket and tossed it out into the pattern. Immediately, the piece was torn to shreds. I gulped.

Then I grinned, sheathing my blades and rubbing my hands together. "Hey! This is no worse then fighting some stupid demons, or talking to that annoying brat from earlier…" I finished scowling.

I began jumping up and down to warm myself up before I took a running start. I jumped up and flipped over the first set that was jutting up from the floor as if it wanted to shish-ka-bob me. I dove quickly to the left to avoid being bloodied, and painfully being killed. Regaining my rhythm I jumped over another group of protruding spears and then to the right before I stopped in front of a pedestal.

"Ha, I beat you!" I said, sticking my tongue out at the spikes.

I turned back around and looked at the bright, shiny thing. _'Ooh…shiny.'_ I thought to myself.

"Rayne you idiot! Just get over the nice, shiny, pretty thing, take it, and go!" I muttered to myself, slapping my face mentally to get out of my trance.

I took the glowing sphere and turned around, and instead of seeing spikes, I saw Enigmas and Gluttonies milling around like the stupid demons they were.

."Hmm, Mystery and Gluttony want to dance? Well, let's tango." My smirk grew as I ran towards them.

The giant eyes of Enigma followed me as I ran up to them, my blades dropping into my hands. I ducked under a giant blade and slashed up with the blade in my left hand. Spinning around I stabbed the other one in the eye. Kicking the Enigma off the right blade, I jumped up and popped off the head of the last Enigma.

"Aww, did the Mysteries not like our dance?" I said pouting. "Maybe Gluttony will!"

I ran in like before, but this time I flipped over them and attacked their backs, quickly slaying the first three. I held Mara and Aram tightly in my hands and spun in a circle, cutting the last three demons in half.

Wiping off my blades, I sheathed them. "Who ya gonna call? Demon Busters!" I sang as I moon-walked out.

**Author's Note**: I am successfully writing more! Yay! But thanks to all my reviewers! Sorry about the confusion in the last chapter, that end part after my note was a bit of a sneak peak into the future, I guess I should have made that a bit clearer. rubs back of head ashamed But I should have plenty of time in Driver's Ed to work on my story.

Anyways, responses to reviewers:

**Sasha**: Thanks! Sorry about the confusion, but Rayne is the main character for this story. Hope it makes more sense now!

**Bustahead**: Lol, I'm sorry about the same names, I didn't even realize it 'till you said that. Umm, anyways, hope you liked it!

**AnalisDestiny**: Then why do you write in first person so much? Lol, thanks for the review. Hope you liked this one!

**Vampy Sparda**: Mm, I was delighted to write this story for you! As for the beginning, that's just the way it happened, sorry it kind of didn't work for ya. Hope you like the action (or at least what I tried) in this chapter! (P.S. Thanks for being my beta!)


	3. Chapter Three

**Author's note**: I'm sorry this one took so long, but my hard drive on my laptop crashed taking with it all of my already written of Chapter Three and such, and the ending which I loved to death. So I was in a period of mourning, but now I am back, and I shall try to write more and keep updating, for I have an idea for another DMC fic, but I have to finish this one before I start on that one. So here it is and enjoy!

**Chapter Three**

"Wow we're up high!" Rose exclaimed as she looked over the edge of Temen-Ni-Gru.

"What would happen," Rayne spoke, creeping up behind her, "if someone was to push you over?"

Rose squealed and fell forwards…off the building. Rayne reacted immediately diving for Rose's hand, but just as she grasped her fingers, Rose's hand slipped out of her grasp. Rayne lay on her stomach, looking down as Rose fell towards the ground at breakneck speed and still had her hand outreached. With tears in her eyes, she let out a loud wail. "Nooooo!"

On a Balcony

Dante walked towards the edge and listened to old rock crunching under his boots. His snow white hair dropped over in front of his deep blue eyes as they surveyed the air in front of him. He looked up and was surprised to see a young woman falling at him seemingly at peace with her death. But before she could drop by, his arm shot out and grabbed her ankle. _'Why does this seem so familiar? Oh yes, I was shot in the head last time I did this…'_

"Well then," he said smirking down at the girl who was looking up him in surprise, "ladies just can't seem to stop falling for me."

"Why I appreciate your-" the girl began, but was cut off by a thundering of footsteps behind them.

"ROSE YOU IDIOT! You can solve the Trial of Wisdom, but you fall OFF THE SIDE OF A BUILDING!" Rayne yelled at her, scared out of her wits.

Rose grinned up at her bashfully from where she was hanging upside down, "Sorry Rayne…but you shouldn't have scared me."

"You should be more," Rayne began before she noticed Rose was hanging upside down, being held up by a man. "Oh, you can just put her down now," she said dismissively at him.

"You mean like this?" he spoke with a smirk, letting go of Rose's ankle's some.

"No! She means, by putting me safely on the ground…please?" Rose spoke up from where she was hanging, scared to death that he was going to drop her.

"Fine, wouldn't want a pretty lady like you to end up as a splat," he said smirking as she tumbled on to her butt as he launched her into the air so she'd land on safe ground.

"So," the man spoke, walking towards them as Rose stood up and began dusting off her behind, "what would be the names of you too lovely ladies?"

"What's it to you, Pretty Boy," Rayne said, raising an eyebrow at him.

He just gave them both a look over, smirking as Rose blushed under his gaze and began to tug at her shorts, wishing they were longer. Rayne just raised up her chin some and leveled her gaze at him, daring him to make a move.

"Hey," the man spoke, raising his hands, "I just love to learn the names of those who are almost as good looking as I am."

"You know, he's like the snow white-ish hair dude from before," Rose spoke up, circling him, "he even looks like him!"

Dante whirled around at her, "Who was this man? What did he look like? Where did he go!"

"Hey buddy, lay off Rose, she didn't do anything to you. Besides," here Rayne smirked, "unless you tell us who you are, why should be help you?"

With a growl he whipped his blades out and at her. With a clang they were stopped as two blades met his, sending off sparks. "Because I can kill you."

As he swung again, Rayne twisted her body and blocked the two blades, swinging hers at him now. "What is up with people trying to kill me today!"

"Maybe they think you're an annoying brat," the man said, clenching his teeth as he began the attack again.

"Wait, are we talking about you or me now?" Rayne grunted out, as they began to battle.

While the two fought each other, moving their twin blades fast enough they were becoming blurs, Rose stood to the side. She watched as they fought like the crazy fools they are. They shouted insults at each other like immature brats and children, but she said nothing not wanting them to turn their fury on her. As she was sitting there, occasionally moving so that they wouldn't hit her, a white rose floated down and landed right in front of her. Bending over she picked it up, reading the slip on the side, _"A rose for a Rose."_

"Let's play nicely kids," a cackling voice said.

Rose's head shot up at the voice and she saw a Jester in black, blue, and purple colors. He was grinning down at them from the ceiling he was hanging on and the look-alike man groaned and took out his guns. "What do you want know you insane Jester?"

"Now, now, is that how you treat your new help?" he said, smirking as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Rayne.

"This is what I do when annoying people are around me," Dante replied, shooting at the Jester's feet.

As the Jester dance away from the bullets, he protested, "Don't want any help then? Fine…I shan't tell you where your beloved Vergil went then."

'_Vergil's his name? Hm...'_ Rose's thoughts were reflecting, but outwardly she said, "Hey, stop shooting at him." Now she addressed the Jester, "So where did he go?"

But the Jester had already disappeared, leaving behind three confused people, two with adrenaline pumping through their veins and one with a reflective face.

He shook his white hair out of his piercing pale blue eyes. His blue coat swirled around his legs as a wind blew up and blew away. He ran a gloved hand through his hair, making it stand up. As he watched the three below him, his focus was almost solely on the shortest one. With a slight change of expression, that almost was invisible, he turned around and walked back into the tower, gripping the katana in his hand a bit tighter. _'We shall meet soon…'_ he vowed to himself.

"Well Ladies, it's been fun, but I'm afraid I must leave you," Dante said giving a bow to the ladies.

For the last couple minutes they had exchanged names and were discussing their next course of action. But Dante seemed to be a lone ranger and he soon wanted to be on his way. So as he said his leave, he jumped off the side of the building, diving down towards the ground.

"Oh my gosh!" Rose screamed as she ran towards the edge to see him swallowed up.

"That idiot…" Rayne muttered under her breathe before she spoke louder, "Well…lets go, can't let him face Hell by himself can we?"

Before Rose could say anything, Rayne had grabbed her arm and she dove off the side like the way Dante had…except this time they were screaming their heads off clinging to each other as they saw a giant mouth open…and soon they were swallowed up in a giant, flying fish.

(Now Rayne's POV)

"Ew!" Rose yelled the squishy intestines of the fish making a disgusting squishy noise as she jumped off the ground, trying to get away from it…only to land on it for what goes up must come down.

I crouched down, poking the nasty junk, muttering, "ew…" poke, "ew…" poke. I repeated this in morbid fascination as the fish swam around in the air.

"Stop that already!" Rose yelled, grossed out to the max. Her face was really pale and she looked like she would be sick soon.

I grinned suspiciously and putting a hand behind my back I grabbed a handful of the goop and quickly lodged it at her. When it hit her surprised face and slid down, I laughed my head off not noticing what she was doing as retribution. Soon the sticky, slimy, nasty stuff was in my hair and I squealed. She was smirking at me, and I soon got my revenge. We got involved with our war and didn't notice that the fish was beginning to sink till it plunged into a headlong dive. We abandoned our war clutched at each other like terrified people facing Godzilla and squealed like the girls we were.

With a thump we landed, flying into the air and landing in a heap, our limbs tangled up. Groaning I sat up, holding my head from the impact. I stood up and heaved Rose up next to me. "Well, we should set off to get out of here and meet up with Dante again shouldn't we?"

**Ending**

Again, I apologize for the wait! bows over and over and apologizes repeatedly like Ritzu But I hope you enjoy it and I shall start on the next chapter after I post this!


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Lady was beginning to get overwhelmed, and running out of ammo, when a gunshot rang through the air. Whirling around, knowing it wasn't her gun that had gone off, she saw two young women standing on the carcass of the giant fish. The smaller one flashed her a grin.

As the taller stepped out in front of the smallest, she pulled out two twin blades. Lady's eyes widened, just slightly, at this. The girl had the two twin blades of old, long thought to be lost or just legend. In her hands were the swords of Earth and Water; Adara and Madra.

As the last demons were quickly taken care of, Lady turned and looked at the two.

"I could have handled that by myself." Her voice was cool and calm.

"But I was itching to abuse," Rayne drawled, sheathing her blades.

"I won't owe you any."

""Well what would make you think we wanted anything?" Rose spoke up smiling.

Lady's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing, not bale to really think of an answer. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Rose spoke again.

"Did a white haired man go by recently?"

Instantly Lady's face darkened. "That demon? Why should you be looking for him…you're a demon too!" Whipping out her guns, she leveled them at the two girls.

"Hey!" Rayne exclaimed, "I'm tired of people trying to kill us today! I'm no devil, demon, or the sort, so point those things at yourself!" Grabbing Rose's arm, Rayne marched away, silently fuming.

"Ne! Slow down, you're hurting me," came Rose's voice, floating back to Lady.

Scowling, Lady put up her guns and began to walk into the tower, leaving behind the rotten carcasses of demons.

"Rock one!" Rayne said clapping; smirking at Dante's embarrassed-like look.

The two girls had walked in on him playing a fancy guitar, jamming away and jumping around like a maniac. Opting to remain silent, the two girls waited till he finished.

"I must say I'm impressed," Rose began, "but the wardrobe is totally a drab."

Rayne began to circle Dante, clucking her tongue in disappointment. "Bare chest? Mm…not good, doesn't go well with the rocker look you're attempting. And this long, red cape? A must go! Don't worry darlin' we'll hook you up with some great clothing and you'll be just great!"

"Cut it out," Dante growled, glaring at the two girls.

"Fine…if you want to be a fashion loser, fine by me," Rayne said holding up her hands, "but anytime you want some fixing up darlin' just run by us."

As the two held onto each other, laughing their hearts out at him, saying random things like "We'll die his hair!" and such, he just grumbled at them. Sore that he was the one being made fun of for once. But as a large rumble, like an explosion, went off, the two stopped and looked surprised.

"What was that?" Rayne exclaimed.

"We're all gonna die!" Rose exclaimed dramatically.

"Idiots, probably just a bunch of rocks falling," Dante said, clearly not affected.

"Well, I'll go check, you two wait here!"

As Rose ran out of the room, looking to see what that large boom was, Dante walked closer to Rayne. "You know, you're very persistent in following me."

"Ah…but what if that's just what you think. I'm just trying to save my city." Rayne's face shadowed slightly.

Cupping her face, Dante lifted it up and looked into her eyes. They had a slight glimmer of tears, covering up her beautiful purple eyes. He could see the passion in there for her city, and felt a pang. He didn't know _why_ he did, but certainly would go with whatever plan that she used to save this city.

Rayne was lost in the deep pools of his eyes, searching them for something, but she wasn't sure. Unknown to them, their faces were getting closer, they could feel each other's soft breath on their cheeks and Dante lifted his free hand to wipe back a stray hair that had fallen out of the ponytail. Letting his hand rest on her face, he was startled on how soft it was just as Rayne marveled in the smooth, but roughness, of his hand.

Their faces were millimeters apart now; both feeling tingles that they never thought existed. Just as their lips touched, Rose bounced back into the room.

"Hey guys! Oh…eh…sorry for interrupting."

The two sprang apart, Rayne madly blushing, Dante just coughing. As they just stood there, Rose tried again. "Should we keep going?"

Seeing as Ne was flustered enough, Rose didn't mention the other White rose and note she had found.

The trio stopped in front of a fork in the passage. The left and right side were both dark, and neither one looked all that promising. Rose began to examine them, without really going into it, as the two behind her began to discuss the plan. After about 5 minutes, Rose's mind began to wander.

"Hey! We should call ourselves the DRR…like you know, the game DDR!"

Rayne turned and started at her with a blank face. "That is the stupidest idea I have every heard. Never say it again."

Going back to Dante, she left Rose standing there slightly dejected. Rose sighed and began to look at the right fork again, seeing a faint light at the end of the tunnel, she turned around to tell them. But right as she opened her mouth, three Vanguards appeared.

"Oh crap," Rose said, stepping backwards quietly.

When she was in the darkness of the passage way, she turned around and ran as hard as she could down the hallway.

Rose ran down the hall, hoping that the Vanguards wouldn't follow her. Taking a glance behind her, she ran straight into a thick wall.

"Ouch!" Rose said her eyes closed as she rubbed her forehead. "Man, I ran into a wall again!"

She opened her eyes and saw a blue like blob in front her. "A blue wall?" Rose blinked, "Wait…it's moving?"

She took a couple steps back and looked straight up. Icy blue eyes looked down into hers, "Oh my gosh! It's a human!"

The eyes just looked down on her and she began to babble. As she did, he began to smile slightly. Suddenly he stepped forward and smiled down on her. "So the beautiful rose has arrived." His voice spoke softly.

He smiled down on Rose, looking deep into her amber eyes smiling as a small blush took over her cheeks. "Why are you blushing my dear?"

She just colored more and tried to avert her eyes, but they seemed stuck and trapped in his icy blue eyes. His hand brushed back a stray hair from her face, before cupping itself around her cheek. He stepped closer, breathing in her sweet scent as the gap between them closed.

"Don't be shy now," he said his voice now a husky whisper.

"Sorry," Rose spoke meekly, still gazing into his eyes, hands by her side.

He gave a low chuckle, one that she could almost feel the vibrations from his chest they were so close, "Don't apologize, you have done nothing wrong."

She gave him a small smile, and that completely undid his frayed bonds. He leaned down, still locking eyes, and kissed her. She gave a small gasp, her eyes widening before they closed, and his eyes soon followed suite. He wrapped his arms around her, bringing her petite frame close to him, and her arms wrapped around his neck.

As the kiss ended, and they watched each other, wondering if they had been dreaming, Rose slowly lifted up her hand to his hair, fingering a white spike making his stomach squirm.

"Not again," he muttered before he brought her back to him, holding her tight like there was no tomorrow.

As Rose's world revolved around him, drinking in the sweet sensation of the kiss, she felt as if she was melting. But this feeling soon stopped as she heard a startled noise behind her.

"Rose!" Rayne's voice came.

"Virgil," Dante said with distaste at the same time.

They let go of each other and Virgil sketched a small bow towards the others before disappearing. The wind left a small, kiss like feeling on the back of Rose's neck while she looked at the ground, a bright blush across her face, as Rayne smirked slyly at her from where she was standing.

"So, ah…where to now?" Rose said, still looking at the ground.

Dante scowled and marched down the hallway, muttering something about stupid Virgil and killing him. Rayne walked up to Rose and grinned down on the blushing girl.

"I know what you've been doing lately." Rayne said, gloating. With a fake cough as a cover-up she went. "CoughVIRGILcough."

"Oh yay, I love bridges that are over endless pits, because then when they disappear, I can fall and die!" Rayne said sarcasticly, looking at the bridge ahead of them. "Aw," Dante said, smirking at her, "is the ity, bity baby scared of the ity, bity bridge?"

"Okay, you can shut up now Pretty Boy." Rayne said, stalking out onto the bridge.

Dante followed after her and Rose followed after him. As they all reached about the center of the bridge, a large grinding noise was heard. As the trio looked around, trying to determine the source of the sound, the bridge jerked into movement.

"OH MY GOD WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Rayne screamed, losing her balance.

As she fell backwards, expecting to hit the floor hard, she heard an "oof" behind her as she hit something softer. She fell over, landing on this soft thing, thanking God that the bridge had stopped moving and she hadn't fallen off.

Rayne felt something moving under her, so she rolled over quickly and was faced with two ice-blue eyes staring into hers. They were awfully close and she quickly backed away blushing, realizing the compromising situation they were in.

"Um…yeah, thanks…" she stammered, blushing.

"No problem," Dante replied, trying to remain cool.

"Okay love birds," Rose sang out, a wicked grin on her face. "Save that stuff for after midnight, it's time to get moving."

"ROSE!" Rayne bellowed, glaring at it.

Rose just grinned back at her, enjoying her moment of power…that is until Rayne grabbed her neck causing her to scream.  
"Now what was that?" Rayne said knowing she had Rose's weakness.

"Ah…nothing, continue on shall we?"

The three walked into the adjacent room and stopped in shock. In front of them, all bloodied up, was Arkham's body. Blood was pooled around him from obvious stab wounds, but no other signs of fight were left.

"God, I think I'm going to be sick," Rose said, grabbing her stomach and covering her mouth.

Lady ran into the room, saw Arkham and stopped in her tracks; she turned to Dante and pointed a finger at him. "You! You did this!"

Dante said nothing, but continued to stare at the body. Rayne and Rose were too disgusted to speak so they stood there in shock, not bothering to answer her.

"I knew all demons were evil, but I had started to trust you! And then you had to kill…him! I should have been the one too! HE KILLED MY MOTHER!"

Her outburst was gaining no attention from the others; it was like she didn't exist to them. Finally she just sank to her knees and didn't look at them. "Go…just go…I'm tired of this and you."

Like puppets, they left, leaving her to herself and the gruesome body.

Arkham smirked, knowing he had done his job well. He had convinced Mary that he had been attacked by Virgil, which was partly true, and possessed. But she knew nothing, he hadn't been possessed. Everything was going along to plan it seemed, and now there were two new players in this game. With a bone chilling chuckle, he was "revived" for the second time and set off to finish this game of his.

Authors Note: _Annyong hashim nikka_ -bows- So this is chapter four, yes indeed, and I'm working on five, hope you enjoyed. _Tto mannapshida_

_italics are __Korean_


	5. Author's Note

**Author's Note:** Ok, so I loathe doing this, but I felt bad for not updating in such a long time. I just wanted to say I'm about half-way through the 5th chapter, but it seems someone threw away my game guide, so now I have to do this without the official one (I'm using one on the internet) so its going a bit slower. Please forgive me and I'm working my hardest for you. runs off to story


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

_"Once a long time ago, demons were brutally murdered, and their angry souls plundered around everywhere. Soon, the human souls were trapped in this world also, not allowed access to the peaceful sleep of death. They soon grouped together to form large mists of blue-green that, when they were solid, were swirling mass of blue and purple. They began to terrorize towns. After a while, it was finally learned that to defeat them and finally put them to rest, they must be shot to pieces."_

As the soul eaters started to whirl at them, the three grouped closer together. The stars disappeared and a great mist surrounded them.

"Rose! Shoot the mist, we'll take care of the solid forms," Rayne shouted, loosening her blades.

Rose complied, rapidly shooting into the mist, causing the solid forms to appear. Some were blown apart by gun shots, but most were felled with blades. As she shot, she went into a killing frenzy and she cackled like a maniac.

Rayne whirled around with her blades out, slashing one Eater in half. She attacked the next, distracting it while Dante jumped and slashed from above. As they fought, they worked as if they were two people sharing one mind. Where one attacked, the other blocked and where one was left open, the other took that chance. After about 10 minutes they had defeated all the mists and Eaters. Rose still shot, laughing away, while Dante just stared at her.

"Bit crazy is she?" he said, staring at her like she was insane.

"Just the killing frenzy," in her Rayne answered, sighing.

After finally calming Rose down, making sure they weren't shot at, they walked into the Alter of Evil, holding their weapons ready. After making sure no enemies were in there, they relaxed some and walked closer to the Alter. The three golden heads faced them, and one looked like blood was coming from its eyes.

"Ew…that's really gross." Rose said, wrinkling her nose.

"Pansy," Dante said, jumping up onto a sword and onto the balcony around it. Rose stayed on the ground, looking around while Rayne followed Dante up there. Together they pushed an obstacle in their way, hearing a groaning noise like something was moving after they stopped.

"Woah, that is even worse! Another head is crying blood guys!" Rose's voice drifted up to them.

"Well," Rayne spoke, "I guess they don't want to see us leave."

"That was bad, you lose points for that," Dante replied shaking his head.

"Yes, but what about your loss of points for that tacky wardrobe a bit back? Hmm?"

"Oh please shut up about that."

"She's right you know," a voice spoke from no where.

"Um…who's there?" Rayne asked a bit nervously.

"Just us…" said the voice again.

"…his trusty blades." A matching voice spoke up.

"Well, "trusty blades", it's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is…"

"…all ours."

"Aw, Dante, they are so polite!"

"Unlike him!" Rose called up to them.

As he leaned over the edge and glared at her, she gulped and said, "Um…just kidding."

As Rayne and Dante went back to work together, and as they jumped back down to Rose (who was mortified at the three heads crying blood still) Rayne muttered, "Thanks for the help," before she jumped in front of him.

Dante just stared at her while his swords quietly spoke, "Uh oh, Dante has the moves."

"Shut up you two!" he snarled before jumping down to the two girls.

As he jumped, he landed on top of a Vanguard that had just appeared. As it bucked around, he held on, looking very much like a cowboy on a bull. The girls managed the other Soul Eaters while he and the Vanguard faced off.

"Here Vannny, vanny." He said, taunting it on.

As it cackled and walked towards him, he loosened his guns while acting like he was grabbing his blades. As the Vanguard attacked, he used Agni to block, whirled around and brought out Ivory and shot into his back repeatedly. The Vanguard whirled around and managed to nick Dante's shoulder before he got away.

"If that leaves a scar you are dead!" Dante growled at him.

He put up Ivory and brought out Rudra, starting an onslaught against the demon. In five minutes the demon was gone, and Rayne and Rose were staring at him worriedly.

"What? Do I have another eye or something?" He said, not understand while they were staring.

"You got cut!" Rayne said an uncharacteristic touch of worry in her tone.

"Oh that? Pfft, easily taken care of," he shrugged, healing it with his demon powers.

"Well…that's news." Rose said, surprised as Rayne nodded in agreement.

The freight sped off once they stopped on, causing Rose to fall on her butt. Embarrassed she stood up blushing muttering something about balance. They sped down the lines, fighting the demons that would appear. Then a crate full of Enigmas and Greed pulled up next to them. .

The Vanguard appeared with a crack, laughing its stupid evil cackle. Dante was already being attacked by three demons at once and Rose was fighting her best against the other two. Rayne quickly took in this information and readied her own blades.

"Oh, look at me. I'm a little evil Vanguard," she said, doing her best to draw his attention to her. When she began her imitation of his laugh, he swung his head at her. "Come to mama stupid thing," she said, crouching down into a defensive position.

It moved towards her and she jumped forward swing her two blades. One got stopped by the Vanguard's own blade, so she twisted her body midair and slashed with her other blade at his arms. She dropped to the ground, and watched for an attack. When he swung the large sickle down at her, she blocked it with a blade and rolled under the arm. She slashed at his back, getting a good hit before he turned back to her. She was unprepared for his attack, so she couldn't block the sickle in time.

It hit her arm, and created a deep gouge. She cried out a bit in pain, but still kept going. She struck again at him, but dropped her left blade from the pain in it. Her arm was hanging by her side, some scrapes on her face, and yet she kept fighting. She didn't notice Dante finishing; she was so focused on the Vanguard.

"Stupid…me…choosing…the hardest…one…yet." She gasped out trying to get behind him again.

As she went for an attack, she left her back open, not realizing it. Dante saw his sickle swinging down in slow motion. He ran forward, hoping to get there in time, "RAYNE!" he screamed, trying to get her to move. She turned back and saw the sickle with large eyes. Time seemed to slow down as he jumped forward and tackled her.

With a huge disturbance of air, the sickle barely passed over their backs. The evil cackle was cut in half. They looked up and saw Rose standing with her guns smoking. "You ok?" she said worriedly.

"Yeah," Rayne said, smiling at Dante, "this lout saved me."

He just stood up. "We're here," his voice came out gruffly.

* * *

"I always knew he smelt bad," Rose whispered to Rayne as Beowulf and Dante had a verbal spat. 

"It could just be the stench of Sparda…seems like this demon thinks it's horrible."

"You never know, he may have gotten so…excited? I guess that's the word, at the sight of you he started sweating because he was nervous of your beauty."

"Shut up you twat," Rayne snapped, slapping the back of her head.

"Ow!" Rose said, grabbing the back of her head. "You didn't have to hit so hard."

"Yes I did, now shut up."

Beowulf roared and charged at them. Rose immediately jumped to the left pulling out her guns, whirling around and shooting at him, her lose hair flying around her face. Dante jumped straight up into the air, and as he fell on him, be grabbed his twin blades and swept an X-shaped attack on him. Meanwhile, Rayne had slid under him, slashing up with her own twin blades.

With the two swords masters swirling their blades in attacks so fast they were blurs and the constant rain of fire kept up from Rose who made sure to stay out of the way. Rayne was now out in the open and fighting. Then when Dante appeared next to her, they jumped as one body and twisted in midair to make a double half-moon slash. As they landed, Beowulf stood up on two legs and stomped his left leg four times.

Slightly out of breath, Rayne made a quick comment to Dante, "Temper tantrum…much?"

He gave a breathless laugh and they prepared for another attack. But instead a large tower like thing fell down in front of Beowulf. Hitting it with his left paw, he sent it flying at them. Dante quickly pushed Rayne to the side and rolled over himself. The tower crashed into a wall, exploding. The two jumped up, just looking at the spot. Catching Rayne's eye, Dante smirked.

"I just have to stop saving you."

Rose didn't notice the tower until it was too late; it came hurtling straight at her. As she looked up, she gasped and froze, immediately blacking out when it hit her. Rayne saw her unconscious form fall to the ground like a limp doll and screamed.  
"ROOOSE!"

--We interrupt this thrilling scene for a commercial from the twisted Author and her friend.--

Episode of the Secret Handshake…or "MMM HMMM"

Rayne and Dante leaned closer, their deep love reflecting in their eyes. Dante moved closer, about to kiss her, an adorable blush highlighting Rayne's cheeks. Suddenly Rose randomly ran by, screaming loudly. "SECRET HANDSHAKE!

Dante growled, pulling away and grabbing his giant sword off his back. "COME BACK HERE YOU!" he yelled chasing her down the hallway.

Rayne just stood there helplessly, a huge sweat drop on her face. (A/n think Anime there.)

Rose ran down the hallway, trying to keep away from Dante. He was looking really scary and she didn't want to be caught. As she took another glance back to see where he was, she ran straight into a firm chest.

"Virgil!" She cried happily, running behind him, "Save me!"

He looked down amusedly at her, wondering why she was hiding behind him. She smiled up at him, holding onto the back of his robes. As a loud noise echoed to them and Rose hid again as Virgil looked forward.

Dante ran in, his sword held up, eyes crazy. "Where is she? Where did that little girl go?"

Virgil just gave him a calm, stoic look. "She hasn't come this way."

As Dante left, Virgil turned around, "For that, I deserve a prize."

Rose looked up and thought, "Hm…what should the prize be?"

Virgil smirked, "I know," and with that the two couples shared a blissful kiss.

--Back to the main story--

After Rose had fallen, Rayne attacked Beowulf with a new sense of fury. She whirled, sliced, jumped, and cut. Her two blades, Adara and Mara, were moving in faster whirls, never ceasing their attack. Dante kept up with her, attacking Beowulf, silent in his fury at this new turn of events.

Rayne dropped back to give herself a quick breath before diving back into her attack again. But before she could move, Beowulf dove straight at Dante. Agni flew through the air and sliced straight through the remaining eye, just as Beowulf smashed Dante into the ground.

"Dante!" Rayne shouted, scared that she had lost him.

She ran at him, dropping down to the ground next to him. As she helped him up, Beowulf flew away. Making sure he didn't have any broken bones, she gave him a quick hug before she ran to Rose, who was still crumpled at the ground. Rayne looked over her quickly, hoping to make sure she was ok. Seeing the tell tale sign of breathing, she relaxed slightly.

A hand touched her shoulder, and Rayne looked up. Dante's voice spoke, "Is she ok?"

Rayne, uncharacteristically, leaned back on his legs, too tired to support herself up. He tensed, clearly uneasy with this sudden display of hers, but he soon relaxed, slowly placing a hand on her head. They sat like this, waiting for Rose to wake up, an easy peace between the two.

With a groan, Rose moved her head to the side. She blinked as her eyes opened, seeing the cracked ceiling above her. Trying to figure out what had happened, she moved to the side. A slight smile came on her face, seeing her friend so at ease. Dante was watching her head, where his hand was currently resting, as Rayne slept leaning against his legs.

"Is she ok?" Rose whispered, still not moving. That tower was making her body hurt.

Surprised, Dante's gaze shot straight up. "Oh…yeah, she's just worried and tired."

Rose nodded, and slowly sat up. Rolling over onto all fours, she gestured for Dante to sit down. "We should get some sleep," she said simply, curling up into a little ball at Rayne's feet. Dante watched her easily fall asleep so close to her friend's comfort. He sat down; still supporting Rayne's back and fell asleep.

About an hour later, he opened his eyes to find that warmth was missing from his arm. Startled, he looked for Rayne and found her head in his lap. Nearby Rose was lying in the same spot as she had fallen asleep in.

Dante, awkwardly, gently shook Rayne's shoulder to wake her up. As she slowly woke up, she realized that she was seeing everything from the side. 'Hm..,' she thought, 'Why is there something warm under my head…?'

Snuggling deeper into his lap, not knowing it was Dante, she gave a satisfied sigh. She lay there for the next couple minutes, still not fully awake, until it hit her where she was. Shooting straight up, she turned slowly to look at Dante. A bright blush covered her face as she looked him in the eye.

"Ah…sorry about that…" she said, greatly embarrassed.

He smirked at her, and slowly stood up. After he got up, helping up Rayne, he walked over to Rose. Slightly kicking her, he growled at her, "Get up you, its time to go."

"WAAHH!" Rose screamed, shooting straight up. Looking at Dante, she glared. "What was that for butt head?"

"You wouldn't wake up. You're just slow."

"Don't call him butthead…his head is pretty," came Rayne's sleepy voice.

Rose looked over at her, and then back at Dante, "Did she just wake up?"

"Um…yeah…why?"

She slapped her head and walked over explaining. "If she doesn't have anything in the morning to wake her up, she's a bit…well…eccentric."

Rose bent down to Rayne's level and began to whisper in her ear. After a few minutes, with a slight blush, Rayne woke up fully and stood up.

"Well," she said a bit flustered, "Tally ho?"

Rose grinned, "Right oh!"

"You're both idiots," Dante muttered.

As they moved to the podium at the end of the room, Rose's eye caught sight of the bright, shinny object. She ran at it, drooling. She got near it and her eyes widened. It was a bright, purple, shinning ball. "So…pretty…" she said memorized.

"Don't touch it Rose," Rayne's voice out of no where.

"Aw…Rayne…" she said, wanting to see the pretty shiny thing.

Dante strode past the two arguing girls and grabbed the ball himself. He tripped at the sudden loss of strength, but caught himself. Rayne ran at him worriedly, holding him up.

"What's wrong Dante?"

"Nothing…I just tripped."

"This is amazing! Even the boy is no match for it!" The Jester was cut off as Dante grabbed him and shoved Ebony in his face. The Jester slowly started up again. "You're not going to shoot me, are you? If you do, I'll die, you know."

"If that's what it takes for you to shut you up. It bugs the crap out of me when someone talks more then I do."

Rose leaned over and whispered to Rayne, "Does that mean I "bug the crap out of him?""

Rayne just shrugged, concentrating on the conversation going on between the two. The Jester was speaking again.

"Don't act so rashly my boy. I got a doozy of a story for you, but if you snuff out my voice like that, I won't be able to tell it now, will I?" Dante just threw him to the side, tired of dealing with him. The Jester got up, speaking to the two girls, "I thought I was a goner for sure. Oops!" He turned back to Dante, "You saw it too, didn't you? The huge tower jutting out of the ground? That thick shaft that causes women to shudder is actually a tunnel-linking the demonic domain to the human world. And of course, your brother, Virgil is the one who controls it by using your mommy's amulet."

Now Rayne whispered sarcastically. "I could have told you that."

Rose just swatted her arm, wanting to know what Dante would say next.

But instead, he just said one short word, "Amulet?"

The Jester gave an evil grin, "He's headed to the control room in the basement. If you don't hop down there," here he hopped like a bunny himself, "quick like a bunny, he'll open the gate to hell. Isn't that a scary thought?"

Dante looked at him distrusting him, "And you are telling me this because?"

"Oops! I forgot to mention one teeny wittle item. That gizmo there is actually the KEY to move forward. But the tricky thing is, it sucks the souls of those who hold it." Rayne a short gasp that she muffled immediately. "So I think you'd better hurry! But, in return for your soul, it'll give you power. Marvelous, isn't it? Just let your spirit drive you and go for it."

Dante growled at him, "Wish you would have told me that in the first place. You big mouth moron." He quickly changed into his Devil form.

Rayne just nodded approvingly at it, while Rose's jaw dropped. "I didn't know he could do that."

Rayne rolled her eyes, "He's half-demon if you haven't figured it out. Of course he can."

"Well excuse me for not being all cuddly with him."

Rayne didn't answer, but once again just swatted the back of her head.

Dante stumbled as they ran down the stops and Rayne held him up. She looked at him worriedly, locking eyes. She gave him a soft smile and helped down the rest of the stairs. Rose was waiting for them on the train, and as soon as they stepped on it took off. Dante sat down, looking at the two girls.

"How many vital stars do you two have?"

Rose looked confused, but Rayne understood. "I took as many as I could, but I doubt we'll use them later."

The promise, though unspoken, hung in the air. If he needed them, they would be open to his use. Not using a verbal answer, he nodded at her and stood up, the first batch of demons were coming.

Dante began to grow sluggish, the orb was drawing strength from him, and this Vanguard just didn't want to die. As he gave a groan from a practically hard blow, Rayne showed up next to him.

"Take this!" She yelled, throwing a green star at him.

His arm shot out and grabbed it, his reflexes blessing him once again. Rayne stepped forward and distracted the Vanguard while Dante used the Vital Star. With his strength back, he attacked with a renewed fervor.

Dante crossed blades with the Vanguard in the front making a loud clanging noise that reverberated through out the whole hallway. While the Vanguard was drawing back his scythe to attack again, Dante leaped behind him, twisted in the air and cut in an X-slash across the back. The Vanguard died with a loud shriek and Dante collapsed on the floor exhausted a bit.

Rose and Rayne helped him up, which he gave a grunt in thanks too. Together they walked into the Rotating Bridge Room.

**Author's Note:** Oh me gee! This is so long! Over 6 and a half pages on Word! Sorry it's been so long, I've been really hectic. I'm just going to let you know that I'm going to Scotland on Tuesday and won't get back till the 15th…so I won't be able to update for a couple weeks. But I plan on writing in Scotland, so don't worry! Other then that, I wanted to say a really big thanks to Vampy for pushing me and Silver Roses…OH ME GEE! That totally pushed me through this last part of the chapter. Well love you all!


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Dante twitched in his troubled dreams. They wouldn't let him escape…

_Rayne was sitting there smiling at him, buds from trees falling down around her as the wind blew. The sun was shinning and all seemed perfect. He gave a small frown, the air was quiet, no sounds. His thoughts were answered when a giant Vanguard appeared behind Rayne. Before he could move or shout Rayne was stabbed through the heart. Dante ran at her, never seeming to get closer, he just had to save her! Finally he reached her, cradling her in his lap. Unbidden, tears slipped down his face…once…twice, landing on her beautiful face as she smiled up at him. She reached up and touched his face once before her head fell back and she died…happy and content in Dante's lap. _

With a shout Dante shot up, colliding heads with the one from his dream. She grabbed her forehead in pain and sat back down. "That ego of yours defiantly made your head a whole lot harder!"

He just looked around him confused, why was he laying on the ground?

As if reading his mind, Rose spoke up, "Once the orb zapped away from you, you collapsed on the ground. You ok?"

"Of course I'm ok, when is the gorgeous Dante not ok?" Dante tried to say suavely, working his hardest to banish the dream from his mind.

The two girls just shared a look before shaking their head as if it wasn't worth it. Rayne offered a hand to him to help him up, but he acted like he didn't see and jumped up. "Well ladies, shall we move on?"

"Oh yay, more killing," Rose said sarcastically.

Prides had arrived, and no matter how simple they were to fight, she was getting hungry after not being able to eat since yesterday afternoon. Or at least she assumed it had been a day; there was no way to tell in this Demon Tower.

But before they could even take out their weapons, a giant horse appeared kicking away the demons. It was a beautiful shade of blue and glowing as if on fire. On his back was a carriage that would have been used by nobles in the olden days.

"Talk about horse power," Dante said smirking reading his twin blades.

"Talk about cheesy," Rayne muttered.

"Now be nice to your lover boy Ne!" Rose said grinning as she danced away from Ne's swatting arm.

Before they could continue, Geryon charged at them. Rayne and Dante went to work using their quartet of twin blades while Rose hung back, going into gun mode. When came back at a run, Rose jumped into the bridge's sides to avoid being knocked out again while Dante grabbed Rayne and jumped up into the air. After a few seconds of fighting, the floor fell out from under the four, causing Rayne to scream and grab onto the nearest thing for safety.

Dante grunted as they landed, Rayne squeezing him to death. "Get off of me woman!"

She huffed and stood up, "Shesh, no gentleman in you is there?"

"First chicken, now gladiator. This just keeps getting better and better. Too bad no one is here to enjoy the show."

"Oh Buster! What about us?" Rose said, glaring at him.

"You don't count loser," he said smirking.

"WHY YOU LITTLE…" She started, going at him.

Rayne grabbed a hold of her sighing at the two's antics. "May I remind you both that we are being attacked by a demon of great size, let us finish him first please?"

Dante smirked like a child who got away with something while a sibling didn't, and immediately went back to attacking Geryon. Rayne soon followed, the two some how moving in a dance again as if they were in one mind. Dante slashed out with his right arm while whirling his left around and cutting in a cross cut. Rayne jumped up into the air and as she fell did an X cut, landing neatly next to Dante. And as soon as her feet touched the ground, they were off at it again.

Rose watched this from afar, constantly shooting. When her amo refills was getting low on one gun, she switched the other faster then a blink and without a hitch. Geryon began to weaken, the charges and bolts of energy getting closer and closer together in what seemed an effort to stall or stop them entirely. Rose began to tire, and slow her actions down. She was in a desperate need of food, but she pushed past her weakness and kept going, her want to help her friends out weighing her growing fatigue.

Rayne went to attack, but was caught in a red ball slowing her down. She tried to move faster and move out of the way, but she couldn't and she was hit by Geryon. As he ran over her, she fell to the ground and rolled. She continued to lie there, even after the slow motion had worn off. Her body felt as if she had just been crushed by a hundred tons. Wincing she sat back up just as Dante and Rose managed to finish off Geryon.

"I think this is going to leave a bruise," she muttered, starting to stretch in order to loosen up, and hopefully help, her sore body.

"Bye-bye pretty horsy," Rose said sadly, putting up her guns.

Dante just rolled his eyes, watching as the blue orbs entered his chest.

"Guys," Rose said again, this time not in a childish voice, "I've got some bad news. I'm running out of ammo. Yes, I brought as much as I could, but seriously, all this shooting is going to cause me to have none left till I return home and can buy some more."

Rayne looked concerned, "Well…if worse comes to worse you can always use one my blades."

Dante just sighed; he himself had ammo left because he used his blades most the time. "How about his, I'll let you use my sword while I use Agni and Rudra…will that work?"

Rose's eyes grew big, "You'd let me use the big pointy knife?"

His eyes narrowed, "Swoooord, it's a sword."

"Right, a big pointy knife."

"No use arguing with her on this Dante," Rayne said shaking her head, "sometimes she refuses to use correct terminology."

Dante shrugged and started to walk out of the coliseum. As he did, a rock began to fall down on him. Rayne and Rose both cried out, but before the rocks could hit him, they froze in midair as he looked up. In movement to fast to follow, he popped up the rocks and continued walking. Right as he left their shadows the rocks fell, smashing the floor where he had just stood.

"Well…that ought to come in handy," Rayne remarked, slightly awed at the display of power.

They walked into the "Lair of Judgment," prepared for any surprise attacks that may come their way. But instead they were surprised to find a white haired person striding back and forth muttering to himself angrily.

"Why isn't this working? Is there something missing? Must more blood be shed?" He said, not noticing the other three in the room.

"You seem to be in bad mood." Dante said, smirking at him while taking up position in front of the two girls.

"Dante…" Virgil said, whirling around. His eyes widen slightly before quickly narrowing back to Dante as he caught sight of Rose and her companion.

"So... my mother's amulet is the key that unlocks the door to the demon world. Good plan, pop."

"Just the opposite actually. Originally it was the key to the demon world but was given to human as a gift."

Dante just shook his head, "It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. More importantly, I've come all this way. I'm sure you have time for one more game…right?"

"Oh, I love games!" Rose said grinning.

The three just stared at her like she was an idiot. She tried grinning at them and when they didn't even blink, she looked at the ground. "What? I was trying to cut the tension…"

Vergil didn't even respond, instead he smirked at Dante, "Why not? After all we share the same blood, I'll just use more of yours to undo daddy's little spell."

Dante gave a sigh as if this was all so troublesome. "So you want a piece of me literally. Okay bro, come and get it. If you can."

Rayne went for her twin blades, but Rose restrained her. Rose looked unusually serious, "This is one fight we can not participate in." Rose moved back against a wall to reinstate her point.

Dante and Vergil slowly drew their blades. Before Dante could do anything else, Vergil attacked. Running, he swung his yamato down from above. Dante blocked it and for a moment they struggled for the best leverage.

In a sudden surprise move, Dante twisted to his left freeing his blade. The two brothers circled each other. The tension grew in the round room, everyone feeling it in their bones and become extremely on edge.

Without a word, in synch the two brothers launched themselves at each other. They met, their blades crossing together, heating up. Sparks were flying everywhere as the swords met, whirled, crossed, and attacked.

Vergil hit Dante's blades sending one flying away. Vergil smirked advancing as a tiger on a trapped prey. Rayne went for her blades again, taking a step forward. Once again, Rose grabbed her arm staring her down. Rayne gave an inaudible sigh and stepped back. Dante had managed to roll to the side and dodge Vergil's swipe. His left hand grasped the blade again and he barely managed to bring his swords up in time.

"Alright," he grunted out looking up at Vergil's smirking face, "this is enough, let's get busy."

With a powerful push, he shoved Vergil back as he stood up at the same time. He attacked from the left with Agni and as Vergil blocked, he whirled behind him to slash at him from the right with Rudra. Vergil didn't have time to block that too, so Dante managed to give him a slash.

Rose's hands clenched into a tight fist, while Rayne watched her silently; this fight was not only intense for the fighters, but also the two silent witnesses. But as soon as the blade was removed, the wound started to quickly heal up.

"I thought you would do better then that brother," Vergil commented smirking. "After all, we share the same blood; I can just as easily heal as you."

Dante just grunted, his eyes hardening even more. Virgil put his yamato away, confusing Dante. "What? Giving up to me already?"

"No Dante, in fact, I'm just getting started."

Virgil's feet and arms glowed as a metallic barrier around them formed, making them look stone hard. He advanced on Dante, who looked like he didn't know what to do. Should he attack his brother with his blades…or fight with fists too? In his moment of hesitation, Virgil swung and hit him in the jaw with his right fist.

"Hm, I must admit that is a sexy weapon," Rayne said to Rose.

Rose just shook her head, not seeing how a weapon could be sexy, but the fighter themselves…now that was another thing. Shocked at her thought, Rose blushed and shook her head, trying to concentrate on the fighting.

Dante quickly bounced back, coming back with rapid fire attacks with his blade. Virgil began to fall back, and with a quick burst of speed, Dante hit him in the head, causing Virgil to crumple.

Rayne smirked at Dante as he stood there, "You know Dante, I might just start going after the old, nasty demons…I mean their weapons are just so sexy."

Dante looked over at her smirking, "They can't get sexier then I am babe."

Rose snorted, laughing behind her hand at his comment. But before they could say more another voice spoke.

"Seems as if your demon ego is taking over," a girl's cold voice spoke.

They looked to the voice and saw the girl from before, the one with the red and blue eyes. As the quartet stared at each other, Virgil awakened. He stood up and scowled.

"Another one?"

"I could say the same," Lady said, hoisting up her gun, the Kalina Ann, aiming at the demons.

But before anymore action could break out, a cackle rang out throughout the room. A black and purple jester stood suddenly there in the midst of their presence.

"Well isn't this perfect? I got all of you together, and so weak!"

"Shut your trap, I hate people who talk more then Dante." Virgil snapped, "And that's hard to do."

"Hey!" Dante exclaimed outraged, "at least I'm not always so frigid!"

"Why I love a spat," the Jester started, "I do believe its time to move on!" The Jester quickly moved between the two and sent them flying. Then he cackled, "It seems the devil boys aren't as great as they thought!"

"Why you," Dante started getting up and rapidly firing bullets at the Jester.

"To slow!" The Jester cackled again as he dodged Virgil's blade. "If you weren't as tired Virgil, you could have sliced me to pieces."

Suddenly Arkham was standing there, "You want to know why you couldn't open the seal Virgil?"

"Whoa…that is confusing," Rose said to Rayne.

Rayne shushed her, "I don't think we want to be noticed right now."

"You had the two amulets, and the demon's blood, so why won't the seal open?"

The Jester came back, dancing over to Lady. "You need the blood of the priestess." He leaned in close to her now, again Arkham, "Time to visit mommy Mary."

He stabbed her in the leg with her own gun, causing her to cry out. As the blood began to flow out, it moved towards the middle opening. He pulled the gun back out, this time as the Jester. "And now the Tower shall be open!"

"Its time for the clown to bow out," Virgil said, pulling out his yamato.

"Dude, the shows over." Dante said standing besides his brother.

But before they could act, they were kicked against the walls around the room, followed by Lady. As the tower with Arkham on it began to move up, great cracks appeared in the floor. Rose and Rayne ran to a part near where Virgil had landed the floor opening in giant cracks behind them.

But before they could reach him, the ground under them opened up, and they fell.

**Author's Note: **Wow, it's been like…4 months since I updated! bows repeatedly I'm so sorry! But as I post this, I am working on Chapter Seven. The reason this one took so long was because of the Virgil fight scene, I was so nervous about that. But a quick thing: I know it is spelled "Vergil" but because I had started out with "Virgil" I'm leaving it at that for the rest of the story. But rest assured, if I follow the plot bunnies I have (which would mean about 2 more full length stories like this one), his name shall be spelled right. So again, thanks for your patience! The next chapter should be soon! And sorry that this one is shorter, only about 5 pages on Word.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

As the ground fell out from under them, Rose and Rayne gave out a scream. Before they plunged into the darkness forever, Rose was stopped with a jerk. She looked up and saw ice-y blue eyes staring down at her from above. Next to her, Rayne was also being held onto by a hand.

As they were pulled up with a rough yank, they tumbled onto the floor. "Thank you so much!" Rose gushed, happy to be on solid ground again.

As she looked up, expecting to see Dante, she was startled to see Virgil. She blinked up at him as she stood up. Rose got stuck in his eyes, once again. _'He has such pretty eyes,' _she thought wistfully.

She moved closer when Rayne interrupted her thoughts, "So…where is Dante?"

"On the other side of the Tower," he said impassively, face like a stone.

"Well let's go Rose!" Rayne said, grabbing Rose's arm. She did not trust this solemn devil.

As Rose was dragged away by Rayne, she shot one last glance back at Virgil over her shoulder. But instead of seeing him, he had disappeared from sight, leaving her to wonder if he had been there after all.

* * *

As the two walked around the tower looking for a way up, they encountered no one and found no way up. When they came back to the other side of the giant crack they had fell into, they sighed in despair. They couldn't make it up any other way, they would have to climb.

* * *

"Remind me –wheeze- never –wheeze- to climb a –wheeze- demon tower again," Rayne said as she reached the top of the tower, bent over and gasping for breath.

Rose didn't reply as she collapsed on the top of the tower, gasping for breath. Her eyes shut slightly as her breathe slowly came back to her and she felt something light and soft brush her cheek. She looked up and saw, "…snow?"

Rayne looked at her, "What?"

"It's snowing now."

"That's not snow," Rayne narrowed her eyes, "It's...its feathers."

"Why is it coming from the sky then?"

Before the two could continue their thoughts, a rainbow light began to shine and to floating figures appeared. They seemed to be Angels except for the fact they had demonic read eyes set into a black face. They held long lances that were glowing a blue-white, but their extremely pointy ends were a sinister black.

"What are these things?" Rose called over to Rayne confusedly.

Rayne was silent, racking her brain for any clue she could have on these new...creatures. Her book didn't give anything about these creatures so she was as clueless as Rose. Before they could say anything else, the two angel-like creatures charged at the two holding the lances out strait for the heart. The two quickly rolled to the sides, Rayne pulling Adara and Mara off of her back in one smooth movement as she stood, Rose grabbing two of her guns off of her thighs.

Rose immediately began to open fire on the demons, now sure they were definitely not angels while Rayne began her own attack.

Left swipe, half twist bring up the right blade to cut a wing, then attack with the left at the same time making two X's, Rayne's mind and body chanted at the same time moving through the moves with ease. The wings on this demonic angel opened leaving a gaping darkness as a stomach. Rayne strove to attack that spot, but the angel, Fallen she decided mentally for they seemed to be evil angels, stabbed at her with a lance, and Rayne only escaped by dodging, but she still sustained a deep cut in her right arm. She hissed in anger and surprise and pressed forward again.

Rose kept up a steady reign of fire on the demonic angels and slowly advanced forward. A lance was thrown at her direction and Rose dodged it, still keeping up her attack, but the lance near her exploded and she flew backwards some, hit something solid, and fell down to the ground. Blearily, she looked up to see a fuzzy figure yet again. Her eyes focused on blue and she had a thought of white roses before she blacked out.

Virgil looked down at the girl at his feet with a stoic expression wondering how she always seemed to get hurt or almost die when he was around. But he stepped over her, shedding his blue coat before stepping into the fray. His yamato began to flutter and cut, leaving butterfly like paths in the air as he relentlessly went on the offense against a Fallen.

Rayne was slowing down as she fought the Fallen, the cut in her arm bleeding sluggishly and causing pain with every move she made. Rayne didn't back down though, stubbornly gritting her teeth as she blocked and attacked. The Fallen were slowly gaining on her, easily getting past the feeble blocks she made. Stumbling over a rock, Rayne groaned, knowing she was doing horribly, but a sword cut in front of her face, stopping the lance.

"Gesh, can't even protect your self now can you?" Dante's sarcastic voice cut in.

Rayne rolled her eyes, trying not to let on her gladness from his help. He gave her an arm and she hoisted herself off and the two soon finished of the Fallen in front of them working with the same mind.

Virgil slashed and cut his black leather vest and pants moving with him as a second skin, and cut straight through a wing. As he held the pose for a little to long, he didn't see the lance aiming for his back. A gunshot went off behind him and his head shot around to see the Fallen disappear in a fluff of feathers as Rose's guns let out a slight smoke and she smirked at him.

"Can't let you always be the one saving me right? Anyways, it was great to see it disappear like a pillow explosion," Rose commented, putting up her guns.

Virgil nodded at her, his bare arms revealing the rippling muscle as he sheathed his yamato. "You appear to be right; their death was most...amusing." A dry smile came to his face, not quite reaching his icy blue eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Dante asked irritated at his twin's appearance.

Virgil faced him, returning the "friendly" and "brotherly" glare. "The same as you Dante, helping, or is that not allowed?"

Dante opened his mouth wordlessly, his glare intensifying the point of lasers. "I would be okay with it, _brother_, if you weren't using it to your advantage."

"My advantage and what would that be?" A single white eyebrow was raised.

"Who knows what goes on in that mind of yours, but usually it's just stupid."

"Well Rose, shall we leave these two idiots and move on?" Rayne held out her arm for Rose to take.

"Why not, it's not as if they are accomplishing anything." Rose accepted the arm, and the two started walking forwards.

"Wait a second, I save your life, and you just leave?" Dante asked outraged.

"I refuse to be in the company of a two year old," Rayne said no looking back.

Dante marched forward and spun her around, "Who are you calling a two year old!"

"You."

"I oughta kill you!"

Rose watched the familiar bickering start up again, and sat down with a weary sigh. The days of fighting and little or no food were catching up to her. Crunching footsteps grabbed her attention and she saw black boots pause in front of her before a body entered her weary sight.

"Are they always doing this?" the stoic voice asked as the owner pulled on the blue jacket.

Rose just nodded in reply, not bothering to speak.

Virgil just shook his head, "One day Dante will learn not to open that big trap of his."

"I doubt it; his brain is so squished by his ego it has no room to think. It amazes me he can even speak."

Virgil just smiled, a real one Rose noted with surprise, and the two arguers looked over at them as if to tell them to hurry up. The two picked themselves up and walked towards the two, waiting for the commands.

* * *

"So we shifted this tower three times, fell on our bums three times, and defeated hundreds of demons three times, just to begin where we basically started off?" Rayne's unbelieving voice said, the trio standing in front of the door. Virgil had left them without a word, leaving the three to go through this stage by them selves, Dante grumbling about no good brothers the whole time.

Together the trio walked into a new room, only to discover themselves once again blocked off from where they wanted to go.  
"What it up with this place and locking itself up?" Rayne yelled frustrated.

"It just hates you doesn't it?" Dante passively remarked.

"No, it is just hates mortals, but just sitting here isn't helping, come on, lets go find the keys," Rose said exasperated at the two, heading towards the doors in the western region. The two exchanged looks as if to ask what was eating her, and followed Rose through into a chamber.

* * *

Two giant balls hung from chains in the center of the room, just sitting there, looking impassive and immobile. Rayne's twin blades were being idly spun in her hands as she stared up at the spheres. Dante was pulling on some metal gauntlets as Rose examined one of the spheres, on tip toe trying to see more then just the underside.

With a sigh, Rose backed up, "Could someone tall _please _come here?"

Rayne slowly meandered over and looked at her as if to say, 'what now?'

"Can you please hit this to move it forward?" Rose said, backing up.

Rayne put up her blades, "I'm not going to break Adara and Mara just for you, I'll just push it for you, shortie." Rayne smirked at Rose who stuck her tongue out in return.

Rayne leaned up against the ball, straining forward with all her might. Though her muscles strained and grew tight; the ball refused to budge. Sweat began to run down Rayne's face as she continued to push for another minute.

"What's wrong, are you too weak?" Rose's voice rang out mockingly.

"Shut it shortie," Rayne said stopping, gritting her teeth.

"Gesh, you humans are _so _weak," Dante said, smirking at them.

"Oh, and I guess you can do better Mr. Half-Demon?" Rayne said, her eyes flashing at him.

"Yeah, move over lady," he stretched his arm out as if he was about to go right, and then with one smooth and powerful movement, he punched the sphere. Right as he hit the ball, a loud "OW!" echoed in the room.

* * *

Lady strapped her rocket launcher onto her back. Feathers littered the ground around her left behind from the fallen Fallen. She had chanced upon them when she reached the top of the tower after climbing. Stepping over some guts left behind, she headed into the Tower to continue her quest for revenge.

* * *

Dante and Rayne turned to look at Rose who was blushing. "Sorry," she said, "its habit to say ouch or something when I see someone get hurt…"

Dante shock his head and just punched the solid ball again, sending it forward, this time closer to the other sphere. After he hit it again, he ran to the other side of the room and did the same. With a loud crash the two hit and exploded, but no shards of the rock went flying. Instead a gate opened and the shiny Onyx Moonshard appeared.

Rose immediately went forward and grabbed it, the shininess of it holding her attention. As she did this though, two Fallen appeared again. Immediately Dante and Rayne started to attack as Rose stayed where she was. One of the Fallen began to charge at her, and Rose frantically tried to pull down the gate again. Right as the Fallen was about to get her, the gate slammed shut and the Fallen slammed into it.

As the demon hovered about the gate, Rose unleashed an assault of bullets against it, baring the ugly hole rearing its head, and two blades made a x-cut through it, the feathers coming in a poof again.

Rayne just raised a casual eyebrow at Rose as Dante leaned on his sword, Rebellion, as he smirked. The two looked at each other before bursting out in laughter at the same time. Tears began to flow and Rose pouted, waiting for them to stop. When they finally did, she stood up, dusting the dirt off of her bum.

"Now will you get me out?'

This set off another round of laughs and finally the two hyenas got her out.

* * *

Author's Note: So me and the lovely Hann-chan, the one I dedicated this story too, just love puns. If you saw the one I believe it was one in this chapter. You get a cookie, made by my dad so they must be really good. Mmhmm, good. I'm thinking once I finish this, and I don't have much left that I'm gonna go back through and have all my comments and such in the story, cause there are lots and its fun…just ask Vampy Sparda about it. Would you read it?

Ps. I apologize for this being a day late, I had told people it'd be out before the last day of March…but it's only one day late! Haha...hides


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